10 Things You Didn’t Know About Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon is one of the few child stars to have had a tremendous amount of success in her adult career. She’s been nominated for two Academy Awards – winning one for her role as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line – and she’s also become one of the most influential producers in Hollywood. Since she’s celebrating a birthday, here are 10 things you didn’t know about Reese Witherspoon:

10. Typecast

After her role as Tracy Flick in the movie Election, which won her critical acclaim, she had trouble finding work in Hollywood. “I think because the character I played was so extreme and sort of shrewish – people thought that was who I was, rather than me going in and creating a part. I would audition for things and I’d always be the second choice – studios never wanted to hire me and I wasn’t losing the parts to big box office actresses but to ones who I guess people felt differently about,” she said.

9. Family

Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon was born on March 22, 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Dr. John Draper Witherspoon, a med student at Tulane University who became an otolaryngologist, and Mary Elizabeth “Betty,” a professor of nursing. Her father worked for the U.S. military when she was a child and the family lived in Wiesbaden, Germany, for four years before they settled in Nashville, Tennessee. She has one older brother, John Jr., who is a real estate agent.